The concept of the Latin phrase nemo resideo, or "leave no one behind," is almost as old as warfare itself. Greek mythology portrayed heroes who rescued those captured by enemies.
Two millennia later, in early colonial America, this mythology morphed into legends such as that of James Fenimore Cooper's Natty Bumppo and the Deerslayer in "The Last of the Mohicans," who famously rescued the helpless from the savage's camp. About a century later, images of the U.S. Cavalry began to appear on the silver screen, riding to the rescue of captured women and children. But with the advent of mechanized warfare and early aviation, the military gained a practical ability to go around or over the enemy to bring back stranded comrades or liberate prisoners of war.
Today, the phrase is often attributed to the elite U.S. Army Rangers, who have the language as part of their creed: "I will never leave a fallen comrade to fall into the hands of the enemy."
Similar language can be found in the Soldier's Creed - "I will never leave a fallen comrade" - as well as the Airman's Creed - "I will never leave an Airman behind." The Latin version, nemo resideo, is even the motto of the Marine Corps' Personnel Retrieval and Processing Company, the team charged with retrieving the remains of fallen service members from the battlefield. The history of rescuing downed airmen by other airmen is as old as the history of air combat. In the World War I, we had no combat search and rescue, although that war saw the birth of the concept of combat rescue. In World War II, we began without combat search and rescue, had unprepared forces attempting rescues on the fly - often with catastrophic results - then ended the war with a robust CSAR effort, only to dismantle it in the euphoria of demobilization.
In the Korean War, we had a strong CSAR but allowed it to atrophy again. In Vietnam, we finally established one of the strongest CSAR forces to date. For the first time, combat rescue as a mission survived.
Between the end of Vietnam in 1973 and Operation Desert Storm in 1991, the need for CSAR was demonstrated often, but the military's CSAR forces subsisted on meager funding.
When Desert Storm broke out, the nation's combat rescue capability had degraded to the point our aviators going into combat did not have the backup they sorely needed.
Of 87 airmen downed in that war, 39 survived, but only eight were rescued. Of the 31 others, 10 were deemed to have been rescuable but were not. Largely because of the short war and low losses compared with previous wars, however, few noticed this poor showing. We argue sooner or later, somebody has to go down there and get the downed airman or missing soldier. And hurry up doing it.
It should be trained, dedicated and fully funded combat search and rescue assets who get there first.
Our men and women fighting for America deserve nothing less. We will never leave them behind. Once out that motto still exists, still rings true. We are all brothers regardless of time, conflict, branch, sex, religion or race, we are always here for one another. Heroes Helping Heroes, You Ain't Heavy means that you can count on us to help you through those darkest moments in your life, to give you a place to vent your frustrations, fears and emotional strains.
Remember You Ain't Heavy!
